Panthers cruise past Maple Leafs

February 04, 2014|Reuters

The Sports Xchange

By Walter Villa, The Sports Xchange

Panthers cruise past Maple Leafs

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The standings say this should not have happened.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, 9-1-1 in their previous 11 games and one of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference, were badly outplayed Tuesday night in a 4-1 loss to the lowly Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center.

The Panthers hardly played like what they are -- the second-to-last team in the East -- and instead swarmed Toronto with aggressive play from the start, allowing no power-play opportunities.

"It was probably our best game of the year," said center Shawn Matthias, who scored one of the Panthers' goals. "We're all happy about it, and we'll think about it for the rest of the night."

The Panthers (22-27-7) also got goals from defensemen Tom Gilbert and center Jesse Winchester and an empty-netter from center Marcel Goc with 2:30 left in the game.

"We didn't have anything going except for one person who was outstanding, and that was our goaltender," Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said of Bernier. "We just didn't seem to have any jump or passion to play the game.

"The first 10 minutes, I think we were outshot 8-0. We were standing around, and they were jumping by us. It's like we weren't engaged in the game at all."

The Panthers wound up outshooting the Leafs 19-4 in a scoreless first period, 48-21 on the night.

The Leafs fell into a tie for fourth in the East standings with the Montreal Canadiens, who have one game in hand.

Perhaps Toronto missed some of its role players who were out due to injuries, including center Peter Holland (foot), right winger Carter Ashton (hand), center Dave Bolland (ankle) and center Trevor Smith (hand).

At least Leafs left winger James van Riemsdyk played despite showing up Monday with the flu. He was sent on another plane to Florida so as not to spread the flu bug. It was van Riemsdyk's 300th career game in the NHL.

Florida broke the scoreless tie on a power-play goal by Gilbert 1:14 into the second period. It was his third goal of the season, and his straight-on shot was helped by right winger Scottie Upshall's excellent screen.

"When you stand right in front of the net, (Gilbert) is going to pick a corner," Upshall said. "(Bernier) just couldn't see (the puck). It was perfect."

With 14:39 left in the third period, Winchester tipped in a wrist shot from defenseman Brian Campbell for his eighth goal of the season. The tip beat a screened Bernier.

The Panthers nearly made it 3-0 a little over a minute later when a shot by right winger Tomas Kopecky was waved off because it rolled along the line but never crossed it.

Toronto ruined Thomas' shutout bid with 10:29 left in the third period. Clarkson scored his fourth goal of the season, and center Nazem Kadri earned his 26th assist.

Thomas wasn't as concerned about the shutout as he was about getting off to a good start.

"I was actually telling myself: 'I will not let the first goal in,'" he said.

The Panthers got that goal back when Matthias got free on a breakaway with 6:38 left in the third, beating Bernier between the legs. It was Matthias' sixth goal of the season, and it came unassisted.

A highlight of sorts for the Leafs was a fight by defenseman Jake Gardiner, the first of his NHL career. In the second period, Gardiner tangled with Panthers center Jonathan Huberdeau, who seemed to get the better of him.

"It wasn't much of a fight," said Gardiner, whose only other fight in hockey came during a practice while he was in college. "Stuff happens in a game, and you get emotional. Sometimes you have to fight."

NOTES: The teams split two previous meetings this season, both in Toronto. ... Leafs RW Phil Kessel's 20 points in January were tied for first in the NHL. Kessel is expected to be the top threat for the American hockey team at this month's Olympics. ... Panthers C Aleksander Barkov returned after missing four games with a knee injury. C Drew Shore was sent to the minors to make room for Barkov. ... G Tim Thomas, 39, said Monday that he would be willing to return to the Panthers next season. ... Panthers D Erik Gudbranson, who suffered a broke orbital bone in December, has discarded his "cage" headgear in exchange for a visor. ... The Panthers' inactives were D Dylan Olsen, RW Jimmy Hayes and RW Krys Barch. ... The Leafs' inactives were D Paul Ranger and LW Frazier McLaren. ... The Panthers have just two games left before the Olympic break, on Thursday at home against the Detroit Red Wings and Friday at the Carolina Hurricanes. ... The Leafs play Thursday at the Tampa Bay Lightning and at home Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks.